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[Dave]

The high water the Vedder-Chilliwack is now facing is bad news for incubating pink salmon eggs.  Because water levels were so low during the peak of spawning, pinks (and to a lesser degree, chums) could not access the critical and stable off channel spawning areas in the lower river and consequently were forced to spawn in the main stem river.  Unfortunately, the main stem river from about Liumchen Creek down has very unstable substrate and high water events that cause major gravel movement kills incubating eggs.   The worst hit area will be from Vedder Crossing down.  All is not lost however as Sweltzer Creek, upstream tributaries (including those at Chilliwack Lake) and the habitat restoration sites (Centennial, Yukalup, Angelwing) all had spawners which will ensure future returns.
It's a shame though - a large proportion of what was the largest pink return in recent times has been lost.

[living_blind]

The same goes for a lot of systems. It's tough for runs to recover because it doesn't take a great deal of rain to blow out systems that have had so much logging done to them in the past.

In the Squamish, a great deal of the water the chum spawn in will be high and dry a month later.

[chris gadsden]

As well the gravel extraction program that happens every two years on the Vedder River I feel does not help either as it destabilizes the gravel river bed even more.

[clarki]

Help me understand Dave. It seems that the pinks are more resilient than wer give them credit for.

After the huge floods of late Oct 2003 we had the same fears, yet the pinks rebounded nicely. Was the low water this year that much of a factor?   

[Dave]

Clarki, your'e right - pinks keep coming back which does indeed show their resiliency and ability to adapt, especially to shi**y environmental conditions.   Also, pinks seem to be expanding their historical boundaries (ie. now fairly common in the Quesnel and Chilcotin systems) so they as a species do have something going for them.
But talking about the Vedder River, due to the low water levels ,the vast majority of incubating pink eggs that were deposited in the mainstem river below Vedder Crossing are toast.  Thousands of fish were spawning in good quality but extemely unstable gravel; areas that today, in flood, were under 6 or more feet of turbulant, muddy, tree and rock scouring water.   Many pinks spawned even lower, areas like the lower canal area, in silt.  Gone.
It seems like Chilliwack pinks continue to thrive/survive by their ability to spawn in enough places that are not effected by these so often occuring natural events, areas like the (so important!!!) up river, non mainstem, off channel areas and Sweltzer Creek, as mentioned earlier.

Chris, I believe you are correct on lower river gravel extraction and it's negative effects.

 

[bbronswyk2000]

Terrible. Guess we will see the affects in 4 years.

[Rodney]

Two years.

[Nicole]

This is the perfect opportunity to NOT open the vedder for pinks next time round...

Cheers,
Nicole

[hue-nut]

anyone had a look at current discharge levels? they have been worse for sure

[hue-nut]

and I think that non retention for 2011 pinks would be great!

[Robert_G]

Every sidestream, creek and even the drainage ditches were clogged with spawning pink salmon this year.
2011 will  just fine. There will be no shortage of Pinks.

[Dave]

Egg to fry survival rates in drainage ditches are often poor.    But you are right, in 2011 there will be returning pinks to the VC -  just not as many as there could have been. 

[BwiBwi]

May be that's a good thing.  Nature's way of making sure river is not choked with pinks and keep a sustainable number.

[Fish Assassin]

Waay to early to be talking about closing the river for pink retention. My .02

[Dave]

No BwiBwi, that's not a good thing.   Pink carcasses provide nutrients to the watershed, be that for birds, animals, many other fish species, aquatic vegetation, nearby trees, etc., they all  obtain grits from these fish.   Pink eggs, alevins and fry are food for juvenile coho, steelhead, bull and cutthroat trout, Rocky Mountain Whitefish, and cupcakes loads of gulls/mergansers.
Healthy populations of pinks to the VC are very necessary for this typical nutrient deficient coastal river.